Starting this year, we will dedicate October to the Bavarian Oktoberfest. We want to bring the atmosphere of the famous German event in Transylvania. For this we have prepared a program full of bunch, themed evenings, drink tastings and concerts. And during all this time, beer will be the main element around which the Oktoberfest days will take place.
If for Valea Verde Retreat it is the first year in which it hosts Oktoberfest, the festival has a history of over 200 years. We were also curious to see where the event started, which now attracts millions of visitors and during which, according to statistics, 30% of the annual beer production in the Munich region is consumed.
A brief incursion into the history of Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest dates back to October 12, 1810, when Crown Prince Louis I of Bavaria and Princess Therese von Hildburghausen celebrated their wedding anniversary. The first edition of the festival was to be a horse race, which the princess simply called Oktoberfest. In the case of this first edition, it is easy to understand that the inhabitants of Munich celebrated separately, in the city center, serving various drinks, including local beer.
The following year the local authorities decided to reorganize the festival, under the patronage of the Bavarian Agricultural Association. In the coming years, Oktoberfest will be under the auspices of various private companies or local mayors who have found a good opportunity to increase their popularity among voters.
The festival grew every year and the large number of exhibitors and participants also led to organizational changes. From serving directly from the cart, as was the custom at the beginning of the Oktoberfest, to a few stands, or even wooden houses, around 1820. Each house represented a beer company. And towards the end of the century, the houses were replaced by tents, which had a higher serving capacity.
At the first editions, the parade of representative carts for each beer company in Munich kicked off the Oktoberfest. The parade started from the city center, to Theresienwiese, the venue of the event. The parade was bivalent, partly to make the event known throughout the city and partly because beer was produced in the city center and they needed to transport the barrels to the outskirts of the city, on Theresa’s meadow.
The first light bulb was lit in 1880 and the first glass beer mug was introduced in the 189 edition. And now this is the most desired souvenir, at each edition several hundred thousand mugs are recovered from visitors who try to steal them.
Oktoberfest in Transylvania
During October, we will welcome our guests with a special program: events for companies, concerts, brunches, themed evenings and tastings of Bavarian drinks and dishes. We suggest you live the Oktoberfest experience in Transylvania, in the middle of nature.
Activities at Valea Verde Retreat
And during your stay with us they will urge you to embrace gentle tourism (“slow living”) and friendly. You can book a weekend for truffle hunting, our favorite activity during the last months of the year.
Or you can always sink in the tub while admiring the twilight that colors the Transylvanian hills. For extra relaxation we created the SPA chalet where you will find a dry sauna, a recreation area inside the wooden cottage and a bucket positioned on a platform in front of the cottage.
For an authentic experience, we offer you an (assisted) riding session. We are proud owners of 4 beautiful specimens of gentle and smart horses. For beginners we offer riding lessons (one-to-one or groups of up to 4 people).
Accommodation at Valea Verde Retreat
Our family spent many years renovating the most beautiful houses that Transylvania hid, houses to which we restored the typical charm of the place, but also the comfort of today. You can find them all in Cund, Romania, at Valea Verde Retreat, where they received a new life. Today, our guests can enjoy four comfortable apartments in the main building, next to the Restaurant, each with a separate entrance and a spacious terrace. Those who want to go deeper into rural life, will be enchanted by our double rooms or renovated houses in the village (located about 300-400 m away from the Valea Verde Restaurant).
In October we are waiting for you with a pint of beer, a Bavarian pretzel and music specific to the festival, to enjoy Oktoberfest in Transylvania.
